A distant and rustic original heart of a land
The mysterious and legendary back of an ancient country
Whisk away the dust of two thousand years
History, resurrected in pieces of bronze
Awaken silent memories
In the future, the waves on the shores of Dianchi Lake flicker
This is the origin of tracing history
This is the fulcrum towards the future
More than 2,000 years ago, on the shores of Dianchi Lake, there was a mysterious and rich ancient country, which Sima Qian called "Dian" in the "Records of History". However, after the ancient Dian kingdom entered the annals of Chinese history for more than 200 years, it mysteriously disappeared.
There is no trace, no legend, no one knows where its subjects have gone. Like an ancient mystery, no one mentions this glory in the history of Yunnan. However, it once reached its peak of artistic achievement, especially bronze.
Now, In Jinning, Yunnan, China, Shizhai Mountain, Yerba Buena. Its mountain is shaped like a jujube core, about 500 meters long, about 200 meters at its widest point, and only more than 30 meters above the ground at its highest point. There are no stele stones, no mounds, and it is so bland that it is not enough to arouse the greedy fantasies of the tomb robbers, so that it can be peaceful for two thousand years.
It is less than a kilometer away from Dianchi Lake. If it weren't for the archaeological excavations here since 1955, who would have guessed that it would be such an unassuming hill, buried the secret of a kingdom that disappeared more than 2,000 years ago.
Tracing the roots of the Red Earth, it was originally pulled away from Shizhai Mountain.
Video | "Ancient Dian Civilization" promotional film
According to Mr. Sun Taichu, the host of the first and second excavations of Shizhaishan and an associate researcher at the Yunnan Provincial Museum, in 1953, an antique dealer surnamed Wang sent several bronzes and asked the provincial museum to help him identify them. These mysterious artifacts have nothing in common with the Civilization of the Bronze Age in the Central Plains, as scholars are familiar with, and they reveal a mysterious atmosphere from an independent ancient world. After preliminary identification by the museum business personnel, this batch of bronzes is likely to have been excavated somewhere in Yunnan, so they bought it and prepared for further study in the future.
A year later, Sun Taichu accidentally talked about this matter with Mr. Fang Shumei, a librarian of the Yunnan Museum of Literature and History, and inadvertently learned that bronzes had been produced in Jinning County before the founding of New China. According to Mr. Fang, during and later the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a batch of bronzes was found in his hometown of Xiaoliang Wangshan in Jinning County, but I heard that they were all sold as scrap copper by local farmers.
Image | Among the bronzes sent by antique dealers for identification was this frog-shaped bronze spear, which allowed archaeologists to trace it back to Shizhai Mountain.
This clue is very important, in the autumn of 1954, the Yunnan Provincial Museum sent staff to Jinning County to do an investigation, after many inquiries, actually found the Wang surname antique dealer sold the museum the origin of the batch of bronzes - ShizhaiShan.
The first excavation of precious cultural relics has attracted the attention of all aspects of society. At that time, Guo Moruo, president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zheng Zhenduo, vice minister of the Ministry of Culture and director of the Bureau of Cultural Relics, went to Kunming to see the wonderful bronzes excavated for the first time in Shizhaishan, marveled at it, and praised it as a major discovery of international significance.
From November 1956 to January 1957, a second larger excavation was carried out at the Shizhaishan cemetery. Nearly 4,000 pieces of various cultural relics have been unearthed, including a large number of agate and jade ornaments. Rare treasures, beautiful, the world-famous Golden Seal of the King of Dian, was excavated from Tomb No. 6 in this excavation.
Image | The Golden Seal of the King of Dian, 2.4 cm, height, 2 cm, weight 90 g, was unearthed from Shizhaishan (M6) The back of the seal is a snake button, the snake has scales on the back, and the snake's head is upward to the right. The knob and the body are cast separately and welded together. The print is chiseled, the chisel marks on both sides of the stroke are clearly visible, and the seal is the seal book "Seal of the King of Dian". According to the "Chronicle of the Southwest Yilie", in the second year of the Yuan Feng of the Han Dynasty (109 BC), the King of Dian surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and the Western Han Dynasty set up Yizhou County in the Dianchi area and gave the Seal of the King of Dian to restore his people. According to the seal system of the Han Dynasty, the system of the princes' seals without snake buttons shows that the western Han Dynasty Was a special status of the King of Dian, which was different from the general foreign minister king and the inner minister prince. The discovery of the Golden Seal of the King of Dian is undoubtedly very important evidence for determining the nature, age and identity of the tomb owner of the Shizhaishan cemetery. Its historical and scientific value is unmatched by any cultural relics of the Yunnan Kingdom.
Regarding the discovery of the Golden Seal of the King of Dian, Mr. Sun Taichu said that there was a small episode at that time. When the excavations were carried out for some time, colleagues who participated in the excavations joked: "If only a Seal of the King of Dian could appear." It can prove that this is an ancient Dian state cemetery. You are the host of the excavation, and naturally you are indispensable. Sun Taichu thought in his heart that there would be such a coincidence, and casually agreed. Less than a week after saying this, a miracle really happened, and in the lacquer powder at the bottom of Tomb No. 6, a gold seal was really cleared out. It was a very memorable day, the colleagues were all jubilant, and the workers who participated in the excavation work together also stopped working and gathered around to see the strangeness.
Mr. Sun Taichu said that at that time, his heart was pounding, and the hand holding the golden seal was also trembling. He carefully removed the filled soil from the seal, and the four standard seal books, "The Seal of the King of Dian", were clearly and unmistakably reflected in his eyes. What an exciting thing!
In addition to the excitement, Mr. Sun Taichu did not forget the previous promise, and immediately invited someone to buy two large carp by the Dianchi Lake, and had a full meal with colleagues, which was a small celebration.
The news of the unearthing of the Golden Seal of the King of Dian went away, and the more outrageous it became, some people said that Shizhaishan dug out golden dolls, and some even said that they dug out golden bulls and golden horses. Peasants from the four townships and cadres from the county towns all came to see the liveliness, and even people from the nearby Jiangchuan, Chengjiang, Kunyang, Anning and other places flocked to it, and Shizhai Mountain, which was rarely visited on weekdays, suddenly became a tourist attraction.
Image | These precious objects prove wordlessly that before 2,000 years ago, the economy and culture of the Dian people had already developed to a high level.
It's a really good history. Not only the records of Sima Qian, the golden seal of the King of Dian unearthed from Shizhai Mountain, and a large number of bronzes unearthed from Lijiashan and Yangfutou, comprehensively condensing and reflecting the whole picture of ancient Dian culture, is the most wonderful historical chapter in Yunnan culture.
The common copper drum in ancient Dian bronzes, after continuous evolution through the ages, is still circulated in many ethnic villages in Yunnan, Guizhou, Qian and other provinces, and even in Southeast Asia, becoming a living fossil connecting history and reality; the colorful dance images on ancient Dian bronzes have been passed down in 26 ethnic groups in Yunnan, and Yunnan is still the hometown of song and dance.
From the Neolithic to the Bronze Age, Yunnan lagged more than 1,000 years behind other ancient civilizations in the world. However, in the following years, the Yunnan people relied on their talents and wisdom to bring the Civilization of the Bronze Age to the extreme. Historians are still puzzled, where did this highly developed bronze civilization, which appeared almost suddenly on the Yunnan Plateau, originate from? Who were the main tribes of the ancient Dian Kingdom? What was the social nature of the ancient Dian State?
Image | Dian Four-man Bell Dance Gilded Bronze Buckle Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 8 AD) Length: 14cm Width: 11.4cm Tomb No. 13 shizhaishan in Jinning, Yunnan Province Excavated from Yunnan Provincial Museum Gild BronzeBuckle with Four Dancing FigurinesThe Western HanDynasty (206 B.C.-8 A.D.) Length:14cm; Width:11.4cmUnearthed inBurial No.13 of Shizhaishan, Jinning County, Yunnan Province.Housed in YunnanProvincial Museum
Image | Dian Four ox-gilded knight copper shell vessel
Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 8 AD)
Height: 50cm Cover diameter: 25cm
Tomb No. 10 of Shizhaishan in Jinning, Yunnan was excavated
Collection of Yunnan Provincial Museum
Bronze CowrieContainer with Four Oxen and Gilt Horse Rider
The Western HanDynasty(206 B.C.-8 A.D.)
OverallHeight:50cm; Diameter of Lid:25 cm
Unearthed inBurial No.10 of Shizhaishan,
Jinning County,Yunnan Province.
Housed in YunnanProvincial Museum
Image | Dian Duo dance gilded bronze clasp
Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 8 AD)
Height: 12cm Width: 18.5cm
Tomb No. 13 of Shizhaishan in Jinning, Yunnan was excavated
Collection of Yunnan Provincial Museum
Gilt BronzeBuckle with the Figurine of Two Dancers
The Western Han Dynasty(206B. C.-8 A.D.)
Height:12cm; Width:18.5cm
Unearthed inTomb No.13 at the Hill of Shizhaishan of Jinning County, Yunnan Province.
Housed in YunnanProvincial Museum
History is not far away, history is being resurrected. In addition to the ancient Dian cultural relics of Shizhai Mountain and Lijia Mountain, which have long surfaced, Chengjiang Golden Lotus Mountain, Chenggong Tianzi Temple, Guandu Yangfutou... Even in Jinsha Mountain, not far from Shizhai Mountain, new discoveries have been made again and again, constantly unveiling the historical veil of ancient Dian that has been silent for thousands of years.
Archaeology continues.
Image | When the Yunnan National Culture Audio-Visual Publishing House filmed "Ancient Dian Civilization" in Shizhai Mountain, it dug up many interesting details and stories.
The ancient Dian bronze epic is the pride of the Yunnan people. From the records of the history books to the discovery of the Golden Seal of the King of Dian, from the introduction of excavated bronzes with distinct local characteristics such as the Niuhu Copper Case, war shell vessels, chimes, buckles, etc., to the in-depth and simple explanations of archaeologists, condensing the social development background at that time, the 50-minute "Ancient Dian Civilization" feature film takes you into the mysterious Ancient Dian Kingdom and falls in love with the Ancient Dian Civilization for 50 minutes.
The audio-visual publication "Ancient Dian Civilization" is produced and produced by the Yunnan National Culture Audio-Visual Publishing House, and is distributed in both Chinese and English. I would like to solemnly thank the Department of Culture and Tourism of Yunnan Province, the Bureau of Cultural Relics of Yunnan Province, the Yunnan Provincial Museum, the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Yunnan Province, the Cultural Management Institute of Jinning County, the Jiangchuan Lijiashan Bronze Museum, and the Yunnan Provincial Cultural Relics General Store for assisting in the filming of this film.
Image | The "Ancient Dian Civilization" published by the Yunnan National Culture Audio-Visual Publishing House has been released.
— END —